With increasing age at tumor diagnosis in familial cancer: Cancer is limited to fewer organs
Journal Title: Journal of Cancer Research & Therapy - Year 2015, Vol 3, Issue 11
Abstract
Hereditary cancer that has monogenic inheritance affects every tenth patient, on average, who is diagnosed with cancer, and it has been suggested, based on twin studies, that approximately 30% of all cancer patients have a genetic predisposition to developing cancer. In this article, the author posited that familial syndromes become more organ specific with increasing age at tumor presentation to the point that very late in life, only a few organs are affected by tumors. The reason for this could be that the tumor originates from a more differentiated, organ-specific progenitor/stem cell later in life, while the progenitor/stem cell might be involved in organogenesis in different organs earlier in life. Examples are given for skin cancer, colon, endometrial and breast cancer. Patients with familial cancer who present with cancer at an older age have a more organ-restricted disease. This could be because the tumor has a more differentiated progenitor/stem cell origin. Examples are given for families with breast cancer, melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, endometrial and colon cancer.
Authors and Affiliations
Olsson H
Biomarker screening of oral cancer cell lines revealed sub-populations of CD133-, CD44-, CD24- and ALDH1- positive cancer stem cells
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks sixth worldwide for cancer-related mortality. For the past several decades the mainstay of treatment for HNSCC has been surgery and external beam radiation, although mo...
Atypical presentation of Merkel cell carcinoma positive to polyomavirus DNA detection: Experience from a single center
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare malignant tumor of the skin with tendency to rapid local progression and frequent spread to regional lymph nodes. In this paper we retrospectively describe the atypical presentation...
Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: a report of two cases and review of the literature
Primary neuroendocrine carcinomas of the breast are extremely rare. Neuroendocrine tumors mainly occur in the broncopolmonary system and gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC)...
An anaplastic cardiac large cell lymphoma: A case report and analysis of cardiac involvement in newly diagnosed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from the Czech Lymphoma Study Group (CLSG) database
We report a rare case of anaplastic large cell ALK+ lymphoma (ALCL) with initial asymptomatic cardiac involvement. A 59-year-old male with infiltration of the right ventricular wall underwent standard combined chemothera...
Combined treatment of gemcitabine with indole-3-carbinol or metformin on drug efficacy in pancreatic cancer cell lines: The role of human equilibrative nucleoside transporters
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal carcinomas in the United States. In accord with the American Cancer Society pancreatic cancer is anticipated to move from the third to the second leading cause of deaths in the...